A Dash of Misty Mystery and a Pinch of Cloudy Confusion
by katlover012
Summary: When he thinks back to it, Skull thinks he blames Verde (well he does, but he also blames himself, because if he didn't freeze, if he didn't hide, if he...). Or in which Skull is Harry and reality moved three steps to the right.
1. Chapter 1: Of Misty Mysteries

**So... heads up: All my knowledge of khr is from reading fanfics and the wiki, so If anything is wrong, please tell me. This is also my first fic, so if I do anything to somehow offend you, sorry in advance.**

**Also, just a heads up. There's one more Harry Potter character here - it's one of my many plot bunnies and just hijacked this fic.**

**My first language isn't English, so if anything is iffy, please tell me.**

**Disclaimer: I own neither khr or Harry Potter, I'm just writing this for fun.**

**Full summary:**

When he thinks back to it, Skull thinks he blames Verde (well he does, but he also blames himself, because if he didn't freeze, if he didn't hide, if he...). Because who was he kidding, Verde couldn't, or rather wouldn't, sate his curiosity for a god damned moment, a moment Skull could have used to explain his past, because he really felt that the Arcobaleno deserved to know that the 'lackey' wasn't just that.

Or in which Skull is Harry and reality moved three steps to the right.

o-o-o-o-o-o

It was a normal morning, with a dash of bland and a pinch of boring.

o-o-o-o-o-o

The day started normally enough, with Skull dragging himself from bed. He walked to the kitchen, rubbing his eyes to fend off the tiredness. Fon is there, as are Viper and Reborn. They look like the hadn't slept in years, which is exactly how Skull felt like right now. Verde was probably holed up in the lab somewhere, Lal and Colonello were training for whatever reason they thought of this time and Yuni was sleeping in.

After the curse was broken, Yuni had decided that, for at least the time it took for their bodies to grow into their original sizes, they would live together. _In theory_ it was an okay idea, but with them, who were essentially collection of misfits, not so much. They got into too many arguments and fights to be healthy. Skull took a moment to hope for something that would improve their relationships. He almost snorted. Not bloody likely. His original accent was pronounced in his thoughts.

Skull plonked down into on of the chairs at the table and sluggishly started eating his breakfast. Viper counted their change, most of which was originally the Arcobaleno's, Reborn was staring into his coffee, looking at the contents of the cup, seemingly lost in thought. Fon sat there quietly, nursing a cup of oolong tea.

It was only six in the morning when Lal and Colonello wandered in, sweat making their clothes to their bodies, collapsing into chairs. They were only acknowledged by the others in the barest sense - a faint nod of recognition.

Yuni came in next, looking the most awake of them. She bounced up to the table, hopped into a chair and cheerfully greeted them.

"Good morning!" She giggled at their exhausted expressions, tone dropping to a whisper, "Are you awake?"

Half hearted grumbles were her only answer. Yuni sighed and settled down, resigned to wait until they woke up properly, not that she had high hopes of them doing so any time soon - it was seven and she knew they wouldn't be even remotely awake unless something

interesting or potentially harmful happened, or it was past 8 am.

It was not what most people expected of the seven strongest - acting like ordinary people, what with most of them being essentially

zombies in the morning.

o-o-o-o-o-o

The kitchen door opened with a bang. There stood Verde, looking like the mad scientist most thought he was, with what looked like the ten

year bazooka in hand.

"I have reversed the function of the ten year bazooka. It now switches the person in the present with their past counterpart." Verde smirked and, with a predatory glint in his eyes, aimed the weapon at Skull.

Verde fired, hitting his target _exactly_ where he wanted to hit him - that is to say, square in the chest.

A cloud of pink smoke surrounded Skull and in his place appeared a young man that looked barely fifteen, but Verde knew, that he _had _to be at least seventeen. Well, at least if Skull didn't lie to them about his age.

The boy had messy shoulder length black hair that covered up the right side of his face and green eyes.

Green, _green_ eyes that seemed to _glow_ captured the ex-Arcobaleno's attention. His eyes weren't emerald or lime green, they were a vibrant, almost electric shade. They looked at him, gazes captured by the trap that were his eyes.

It was a strange feeling, it was as if his eyes could see into their souls.

It was strange, yet they couldn't look away.

It was strange, that he could seemingly see their every thought.

It was strange, but they did nothing to stop it.

The boy blinked, and, as if it was never there, the spell was broken. The ex-Arcobaleno were no longer imprisoned by his eyes, prisoners in their own minds.

o-o-o-o-o-o

The boy with hair the colour of raven's feathers was an enigma.

He didn't look like Skull, _their cloud_, at all. Everything was foreign to them, from his stance to small, minute mannerisms.

The most _important_ difference, _the most_ _chilling_ was his appearance. His very bone structure was wrong, different.

"So... do you know how I got here?" Skull's eyes searching for something, _anything_, familiar.

Reborn, their de facto leader, recovered first. He planted a hand onto the table and stood up. Leaning on the wooden surface for support, he closed his eyes and steeled himself, composed himself.

"I know this seems crazy, but you got here because Verde, the one with green hair and the lab coat, tinkered with a time machine. You're in the future." Reborn inwardly cringed at his blunt explanation.

Everyone bar past-Skull braced themselves for the loud exclamations that were surely going to follow.

They didn't.

Skull's eyebrows furrowed. He eyed them, as if evaluating them, judging them. He started to bite his lower lip, reminding them once again

that this wasn't _their_ Skull, the Skull they knew. _Their_ Skull never showed weakness, covering it up with false bravado.

Skull-_not_-_Skull_ appeared to make a decision. "How many years in the future am I? And exactly how does my future self know you? I mean the person with the ominous cloak of mistery looks shifty to me." Skull started to play with the hems of his shirt, obviously uncomfortable.

"You are approximately 35 years in the future. You will stay here for a period of time between two minutes and five hours," answered

Verde promptly.

"Oh, and we met your future self through a job a some time ago. Yuni you met fairly recently - you met her grandmother through the job though." Lal chimed in, shifting in her seat, uncertain of Skull-_not_-_Skull's_ reaction.

"Huh," Skull said, tone nonchalant. "So... where is my counterpart? I mean he should be here somewhere if this method of time travel works anything like the one I'm used to." His eyes flitted from one person to the next, watching their movements, searching for his future self.

"Umm... he's in the past - exactly where you were before. You switched places, essentially." Colonello was the one that answered that question.

"Oh. Oh. Oh. That's not good, not good at all." Not-Skull's eyes widened with what seemed like realization. "That's not good, not good _at all_. Well... hope he doesn't... freak."

The ex-Arcobaleno wanted to ask him what he meant by those off-hand comments. They wouldn't ask _now,_ but would ask _their _Skull, the Skull they knew and could trust.

Skull slumped in his chair, running his had through his hair, brushing the strands behind his ear, exposing the right side of his face.

A scar was on his forehead in full view of them, a scar that looked like a bolt of lightning in the sky, branching out like a branch of a wizened oak. It was faded, but obvious to them nonetheless. The Arcobaleno didn't know how to react; this was their _cloud_ and _they never knew he had scars,_ or at least one, and especially not a large one like that. Their arrogance had made them blind. All they 'saw' was a pathetic lackey, one who didn't _really_ know what pain was, what it was like to have a scar, a memento of battle. In their eyes, he was hopelessly naive, like a newborn fowl.

Their reactions were somewhat muted - they couldn't start fussing over someone who was essentially a _stranger_. The only exception to this was Viper - Viper gasped.

The Arcobaleno, as one, whipped their heads around to stare at them. Viper never showed their emotions, never let themselves react outwardly, never let themselves relax, even in the presence of people they considered family.

Viper, gaped at Skull their jaw dropped.

"What the fuck, _Potter_?" They snapped, clearly trying to regain some control over their emotions.

Skull-but-_not_ looked at them, _really_ looked, and, slowly, comprehension dawned upon him, changed his expression. He grinned a Cheshire grin.

"Did my future self call in that favour yet?" A smirk spread across his face. "Or did neither of us know who the other was? I'm guessing the latter, because of your reaction."

Before Viper could even think up a reply, pink smoke enveloped Skull-_not_-_Skull_ and Skull, _their_ _Skull_ returned.

He looked different. A self-satisfied smirk was just starting to form on his lips, Skull's face gaining a terrifying quality, somewhat like one would expect murderer to look after a particularly satisfying kill. His black shirt was soaked, his eyes glimmering with mirth. A strong smell hit them - the smell of blood.

"Who...?" Viper asked, not fazed with the knowledge that Skull _killed in what was probably cold blood_ now that they knew who Skull _really_ was like, behind his mask of a coward.

"Your mother's sister. The crazy one," Skull's smirk got predatory. "You know how much I wanted to kill her, and I know you wanted to do so yourself, too."

Viper realised something. Their face contorted into something furious, dangerous. "Wait a minute." Viper's tone was frigid, much like ice, cutting into Skull like a knife. "You knew. You _knew_. _You knew who I was_ from the very _beginning_ and you didn't say _anything_? Is this all just a joke to you?"

Their words cut through Skull's mask of amusement. "No, I didn't _know_." Skull's voice broke. "I didn't. I honestly didn't. I... I 'lost' the memories of the meeting," he chose his words carefully, hesitantly, as if a single misstep would get him killed. He clearly meant something else, but all but Viper didn't know what.

"Oh!" Skull snapped his fingers as he realised something "That time in Venice I couldn't show up was because some idiot I killed turned out to be Don Carcassa and I had to fix the internal problems of their famiglia, because apparently the person that kills the boss becomes the boss. That's why I couldn't tell you."

Skull got the distinct impression that Viper raised one of their elegant eyebrows. "I didn't really mind that you missed the meeting - I missed plenty myself. Besides, I knew that you wouldn't skip out on it for no good reason."

The ex-Arcobaleno watched their exchange as if it were a tennis match - that is to say back and forth, seemingly straightforward, but actually working with rules nobody but the players seem to know and terms thrown around that only a select few knew the meaning of.

Reborn finally had _enough_. He stood, straightening to his impressive height and slammed his hands down onto the table. His expression was unreadable to most, but the ex-Arcobaleno saw the underlying anger and confusion. Skull jerked in surprise, almost knocking over Fon's tea, and threw Reborn a piercing look.

"Explain. Everything. From the beginning." Reborn knew he sounded desperate, but he _was_ and he needed to know what his friends, a part of his _family_ was talking about. He looked first at Viper and then Skull, throwing them a meaningful look, one that left no room for argument.

"Fine. Don't interrupt us. And sit down, for God's sake, Reborn. It's going to be a long and unbelievable tale." It was surprisingly Viper that answered, surprising mostly because the Arcobaleno knew how much they hated offering information willingly, and _especially_ for free. They really shouldn't have been surprised, Viper considered them family, after all and they didn't charge their _family._

"We should probably start with our birth names. Mine is Harry Potter and Viper's is Draco Malfoy. Don't use them. They're not _us _anymore, and probably never will be again."

"I was known, at first, for surviving a terrorist attack when I was barely a year old, which is also when my parents died. When I was older I was famous for killing the same terrorist that killed my parents." Skull closed his eyes, memories obviously painful to remember.

"We first met when we were eleven. We went to the same boarding school in Scotland." Skull paused, thinking about the best way to start

their story.

Viper shook their head and took over from there. "Skull and I couldn't stand each other at first. Our rivalry was legendary. Every day, without exemption, we would taunt each other. It was pretty harmless, most of the time, the sixth year incident notwithstanding." Skull grimaced, opening his mouth to apologise, but thinking better of it, for which Viper was glad. "I became Viper when I was twenty and finally discovered what freedom really was. I changed my name, appearance and voice, got people to use the pronouns I actually identify with and quadrupled my savings, all within in a week. I gained a reputation as the go-to person for information in Palermo, and a couple months later in most of southern Italy. A couple years later I was the world's best information broker." They smiled. "It was fun. I could do anything, I didn't have to pretend to be the perfect heir to the Malfoy family. I was a member of the British nobility, you see. Heir Malfoy, they called me.

"That is until my father was arrested and his, and by extension the Malfoy family's, fortune was handed over to the government. Most of my so called friends abandoned me." Viper's fist clenched. "I was the convict's son, then. I was a social pariah, but so was Skull. He had it worse - he was one of the people that caught my father. He was revered - a hero that caught the bad guy, the murderer."

Skull scowled. "Everyone wanted something from me. Be it a place in the spotlight, a little sympathy from the resident hero or my inheritance. I felt like I couldn't trust anyone, especially since my best friend took part in it, too."

Viper quickly changed the subject. They didn't want Skull to dwell on that part of the past. "We had the weirdest relationship after graduation. Our respective friends kept teasing us about us fighting like an old married couple. We thought it weird - we tolerated each other, at best, at that time. We actually warmed up to each other about a year after graduating, the only downside was us drifting away from our friends." Viper paused, collecting their thoughts.

"We went our separate ways, each of us choosing a career. I chose information brokering. We met by chance in Palermo, where I was starting out my career and he sightseeing. We promised each other to meet up every two months, to check up and exchange new information. It was refreshing after the repetitive motions of information gathering. We had a routine. We started to meet up more frequently - two times a month, sometimes more," Viper's voice was warm, remembering fond memories.

"That was, understandably, the moment things went to hell." Skull cut in when it became obvious that Viper would start to wax poetic about their relationship. "My old friends couldn't accept that we weren't friends anymore. They filed a missing persons report. They essentially started a manhunt, searching for me. Once I found out about it, I created a new identity. That's how Skull Demort came into being."

o-o-o-o-o-o

Skull Demort is _officially_ born on the eighth day of august, in nineteen seventy seven.

_In reality_, Skull was 'born' in a bar in Romania with a few words written on a paper towel.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"Somehow, impossibly, the day one day I wasn't in 'disguise' my old friends found me. They backed me into a corner, trying to guilt me into coming back to kill some new terrorist that decided to pop up." Skull's expression turned angry. "They tried to cage me. They took one of _mine_ hostage. It was the first time I went into a cloud rage."

The Colonello flinched. He was the only one of the Arcobaleno, except perhaps Viper, that saw Skull in a _true_ cloud rage. It was terrifying,

like any cloud rage, but more focused, more logical, as opposed to the mindless anger of a regular cloud.

The Reborn grimaced. He knew exactly what type of territory Skull had - people. If someone took someone _he_ considered precious hostage, he would do _anything_ in his power to free them. He wouldn't be in his right mind, his worry making him act irrationally. He couldn't imagine what it must have been like for Skull, what with a cloud's instincts amplifying emotions like those.

Lal closed her eyes, extending a silent sympathy to Skull. She knew what being pushed into a corner felt like to a cloud - she had some cloud flames, after all.

Fon could feel his calm slipping. All these things, these revelations about his friends, his family, were chipping away at his firm control over his emotions. His eyes flashed crimson as more emotions filled him.

Verde, while a heartless bastard to most, simply wasn't to the ex-Arcobaleno. Never to the only people who accepted him, the family he never really had.

Yuni, while mature for her age, couldn't really comprehend all this information. She was naive, but that was a part of herself that she accepted. Besides, she was constantly being sheltered by the others from the horrors of their world.

"We are all here now, and we're happy. Isn't that all we need?" Asked Yuni.

"Yeah," replied Skull. "We needn't obsess about little details like names or sad pasts. But, sometimes, we have to remember how we got to the place we are now for us to be able to enjoy the present."

Viper let out a soft noise of agreement and smiled.

o-o-o-o-o-o

It was a normal morning, with a dash of misty mystery and a pinch of cloudy confusion.

o-o-o-o-o-o

**There's a reference to the wonderful fanficton 'of the dead (say nothing but good)' by mokona-puyh in here, somewhere. If you by any chance find it, tell me - I want to know if it was obvious or not. Also, Go read the fic - it's delightful. It's so much better than this sorry excuse of a fanfiction.**

**Please review!**

**Hope you enjoyed this,**

**Kat**


	2. Chapter 2: Of Sunny Surprises

**This was supposed to be a two-shot. It's not. It's really, really not.**

**The plot bunny demanded attention and I couldn't refuse it. It just grew, and grew. **

**Without further ado, here's the second chapter of A Dash of Misty Mystery and a Pinch of Cloudy Confusion. **

o-o-o-o-o-o

It was a nice day, a sunny day, without a drop of rain in sight.

o-o-o-o-o-o

The morning after the time travel disaster that resulted in Viper and Skull telling the ex-Arcobaleno their life stories was downright mundane in comparison. They all followed the routine. All except Reborn.

For him it was bizarre - the others acted as if nothing changed, but he Reborn knew things changed, at the very least for him. He felt as if he didn't deserve to know Viper's and Skull's pasts when he hid his own. He felt selfish for keeping something like that from the people he considered family.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Reborn was fully awake the moment he got to the kitchen. He made himself a cup of coffee and grabbed a bread roll. He sat down and waited for the others. He had decided the previous night that he would tell them of his own past, a way to even the playing field, so to speak.

When everyone was in the kitchen after what seemed like an eternity of waiting, Reborn closed his eyes, tilting his head up towards the ceiling. You can do this, he told himself.

Focusing on his self imposed task, he opened his mouth and started to weave his story. "My name used to be Renato Sinclair, but you already know that, what with my name change happening after the curse." That got everyone's attention. "My childhood was in no way ideal. I never knew my father and my mother abandoned me when I was seven. I was passed from one street gang to the next constantly. My mentor, a man named Gregorio, essentially adopted me after I, for some reason _impressed_ him by stealing his watch off his hand without him noticing.

"He taught me most of my skills. He groomed me to be the most effective and efficient hitman in my generation. It worked a little too well. He thought he could order me around, use me as his personal weapon. He ordered me to kill the one person I held dear at that time, and I killed him for it." Reborn sighed.

"It turned out he was a very influential part of the mafia. The greatest hitman in all of Europe, and I killed him, and in doing so took his throne. I was thirteen." He snorted. "Yeah... I was a rather messed up child."

"Well, I just tried to survive every day. I got the invitation for the 'Strongest Seven' when I was twenty-seven. You know the rest."

"Yeah, but why tell us? You didn't have to." Skull looked at Reborn, curiosity shining in his eyes.

"I think I did, at least so that we were all on even ground in this regard." Reborn shrugged nonchalantly, seemingly at ease now that his past was out in the open.

"Hmm. Ok, I can get behind that," Colonello said, leaning forward. "Just so you know, my birth name is Claudio Ravigati. I grew up in the middle of nowhere of Italy. I had a pretty normal childhood."

Verde spoke up next. "My original name is Anton Vulpe. I grew up with supportive parents, what with me being a child prodigy. I changed my name and looks when they died of an illness. I tried to find a cure, but I only succeed fairly recently. The illness was a mostly isolated case - the cure won't be much good to anyone now." Verde stopped, bitter words clearly cutting into his psyche.

Skull abruptly stood up and scurried out of the kitchen. He returned with what looked to be alcohol.

Reborn raised an eyebrow at him.

"What? Did you think anyone could live without a secret stash? Because I certainly can't," Skull answered the unasked question indignantly.

Reborn scoffed. "No, I'm just surprised that you chose to bring it out now and not yesterday. I know you could have used some alcohol."

"Yeah, but I didn't." Skull shrugged. "And I feel like Verde needs it right now."

Skull opened a cupboard, taking out seven whiskey glasses, a normal glass, and a tray. He poured the alcohol into the glasses, placing them one by one onto the tray. He grabbed a bottle of juice from the fridge and poured it for Yuni in the last glass.

He handed out the drinks to everyone and sat down.

"What sort of whiskey is this?" asked Reborn.

"The good kind" replied Viper. They took a sip and paused as if waiting for something. They tilted their head up and breathed fire.

"Why the illusion, Viper?" Lal tilted her head.

"It's not..." Their head snapped to look at Skull. "Oh. Shit. We forgot to tell them what exactly we learned at school."

Skull broke out into hysterical laughter. "Oh, this is priceless, Viper!" He tried to reign in his laughter. "Only we would forget to tell them a piece of information _this_ important!"

Viper looked at the other ex-Arcobaleno and answered the question that was probably on all of their minds. "Magic. We attended a school of witchcraft and wizardry. The terrorist we mentioned was magical. He -" Viper motioned to Skull. "Killed the terrorist with magic."

The Arcobaleno looked at them incredulously. Viper couldn't honestly expect them to believe that _magic _existed. They couldn't be serious.

Reborn was the first to recover. "Are you kidding? This is rather unbelievable. We need proof, something you couldn't do with the help of flames."

"And flames are the most believable thing in the whole universe," Skull grumbled.

Nevertheless Skull tapped his chin in thought. He made a strange motion with his wrist, and a thin, long stick appeared in his hand. "I guess the best one would be... summoning and banishing." He murmured so that only Viper could hear.

"Accio butter knife." Skull intoned, and a knife that was left on the counter flew into his hand. With a quick incantation of 'depulso', the knife was banished into the dishwasher. "Is that proof enough for you?"

The ex-Arcobaleno blinked. Something in Skull's expression made them believe them.

The chorus of affirmative answers was somewhat muted. Verde, as a scientist, took the longest to answer, but seemed to accept that magic, did, in fact, exists. Most of his thoughts of magic breaking the laws of physics were shot down by the logical part of his brain telling him that flames did that too and that he accepted them as an everyday part of his life.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Viper had decided that they would take a break from both his information brokering and their job as the Varia Mist Officer during their stay at the Arcobaleno manor.

Skull didn't have a job, per se, as he passed on the mantle of Don Carcassa to a promising young mafioso that was his 'apprentice' during his rather short Carcassa stint. Fabio still sent out groups to invade Mafia Land, but mostly for the sake of tradition than anything.

Reborn simply wouldn't take any new contracts for the time in the manor and Fon did the same. Colonello took a break from his job, as did Lal. Verde still worked on his experiments and Yuni didn't have a job.

As the ex-Arcobaleno didn't have much to do, they mostly hung out in the areas like the kitchen or the living room and sometimes the training room. Places where they had at least _some_ chance of human contact.

That is exactly the reason why Viper is surprised to find the living room only occupied by Skull and Oodako.

They walk over to the sofa and sit down next to him. Skull puts a bookmark to save the place where he left off in the book he was reading and looks at Viper.

Skull reached out, his hand moving towards Viper's face. He paused, looking to see if Viper would allow him to put down their hood. When they made no attempt to stop him, he pulled their hood down.

He moved his hand away from their face. "Why do you hide your face with a hood when you can use glamours and mist illusions? Is it a precaution, to make sure nobody recognizes you?"

Viper nodded. "How do you keep up the glamour you have on your face?"

Skull blinked. Then he started to take out his piercings, first from his lip and then his ear. The moment he dropped them onto the table next to the sofa, his appearance changed. He looked like his old self a green-eyed, messy-haired scrawny teen with prominent aristocratic facial features.

He picked the piercings, handing them to Viper. "It's basic Runes and Arithmancy work. It's fueled by my magic and flames. I made it a couple of years after we left Britain."

"No way that is anything basic. I don't even know what a third of this is." Viper's eyebrows furrowed.

"Isn't it? I mean I just slightly altered a description in the book I learned Runes from and combined that with Arithmancy. It was simple enough." Viper threw Skull a dirty look.

"Of cause you would be a literal prodigy at the two subjects you didn't take at Hogwarts." Viper dragged their fingers through their hair, which was made to look blue, currently. They got lost in their thoughts of Hogwarts and Britain in general, and so did Skull.

Viper shook themselves from their thoughts. "I sort of miss Britain. Not just Hogwarts but Diagon too. And I would like to see some of my old friends again. Like Pansy or Blaise. Besides, Pansy just didn't want to spend time with you. I think she avoided you more because of paranoia from the war than because of you, as a person."

"I miss the UK too. I think Hermione was the same to you - paranoia and justified fear of people on the other side. I would go back, but we have nothing to go back to. We broke off from the magical on rather bad terms. We didn't just drifted apart." Skull pulled his legs up, letting his head drop on one knee, facing Viper.

"If they were searching for us, I'd know. Pansy, Blaise or Hermione, I mean. I'm still the best at information brokering and they would have found me if they were searching." Viper sighed and lowered their head onto Skull's shoulder.

"Maybe they at looking, but not in the right places? I mean are you looking for people as thoroughly in the UK as in the rest of the world? I wouldn't. I would have been petty and leave the English to rot." Skull said, a bit of his personality that he had as Harry bleeding through.

"Huh. I guess I _do_ avoid Britain, somewhat. I'll get Shadow to scout potential customers." When they looked at Skull, who was grinning like they proved his point. "And I'm doing it for the extra money, not proof."

Skull shook his head. They both knew it wasn't true.

Skull smiled, and Viper smiled back.

o-o-o-o-o-o

It was a nice day, a day of sunny surprises and rainy revelations.

o-o-o-o-o-o

**Hi! I hope you enjoyed the second chapter of Misty Mysteries!**

**Shadow's an OC. He won't be here for long. He's not really all that important. I just needed a person that works for Viper. **

**This had a lot of backstory, and of that's not your cup of tea, I promise there won't be much more in the rest of this fic. Maybe there won'tbe any at all. I just don't know.**

**This chapter is rather rushed compared to the last one, but I wanted to get to the next chapter as soon as possible, because that's where the plot really begins.**

**I was also a bit stuck on where to take this chapter. If you have a suggestion, I might consider it, but only it if it fits my general idea for this fic.**

**Another thing you should know is I **_**want to **_**reply to your reviews and I can't do that if you aren't logged in. Especially if you ask me a question. Please, please log in. Please. **

**Thank you all for favouriting, following and reviewing, it really made my day! **

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**Kat**


	3. Chapter 3: Of Stormy Satisfaction

**Here's another chapter of A Dash of Misty Mystery. Hope you enjoy it!**

o-o-o-o-o-o

It was a stormy day in London.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Pansy Parkinson was on a mission, one she was on for the past twenty years. A mission to find Draco Malfoy, because she needed to know if he was alive, at the very least. Hopefully he would be somewhere nice, enjoying life. Besides, he was the one Potter hung around most those last few months before both of their disappearances and a chance of finding the Savior of the Wizarding World was always a plus, if only for the sake one of her newer friends, Hermione Granger.

She looked through newer documents, searching for information on where Draco could have gone. She knew most of them were fake leads, but she also knew some had a grain of truth in them.

Pansy grimaced, thinking of her actions before Draco left the British Enclaves. She was a total bitch to Potter, though it was mostly because of her paranoia. She couldn't know if he was honest with his intentions towards them. She didn't know if he was just a nice guy trying to get to know them or a backstabber. As a result she kept her distance from him, and consequently forsook her friendship with Draco, as he had grown rather close with Potter.

The first couple years after Draco left she didn't care much - she had her personal life to sort out, because that had gone pretty much to hell. But when she finally had everything under control, she started to wonder what drove Draco away, blaming herself for being at the very least a small part of his reason for leaving. She put it upon herself to search for him, mainly to help with the guilt that she had started to drown in.

A door opening startled Pansy out of her thoughts. In the doorway stood Hermione, her robes hugging her figure, a tray of food in one hand.

"I brought dinner." She put the tray down and looked at Pansy. "So have you found any leads yet? For either one? Because I found a person who might help us find more information."

Pansy's head shot up. "Who?"

"Apparently their name is Viper. I found out about them about a month ago, but they were on break. It looks like they are back in business now, though. They're supposed to be the most reliable person to go to for information. Unfortunately their prices are a much higher than what we pay normally. Do you want to ask them?" Hermione's tone was hopeful, which was rather rare, considering the topic.

"Do you really think they could know? I mean," Pansy backtracked, trying to be the voice of reason, "they might give us the same information we already have. Or give us entirely false information."

"I don't think so. They apparently pride themselves on having the most accurate information. That, and they supposedly have more information than anyone else." Hermione was obviously trying to make herself sound less desperate than she actually was.

Pansy, while she hid it from her Gryffindor friend, was getting more desperate every day. She realised that it was their best and option if they wanted to find Draco and Potter.

"Ok. Fine. We'll contact them." Pansy's eyebrows furrowed. "How much will the information cost? Do you know?"

Hermione hummed. "It depends on the information. Anything they consider 'common knowledge', which it isn't, usually, costs about the same as our normal leads. Information that is harder to find costs fifty percent more. Also, according to rumours, anything about them costs like literal fortunes - like a hundred times the Parkinson fortune before the war. I'm assuming the information we are looking for is in the second category."

"Ok. How do we contact them, and where do they operate from?" Pansy dragged her fingers through her hair, her hands shaking faintly.

"No one knows where they are based, but from what I've found out it's very probable that they work from Italy." Hermione paused. "As for contacting them it seems like you have to find someone that has already met with Viper to get you in contact. I've already got a contact - the same person that told me of Viper in the first place.

Hermione straitened. "He said his name is Shadow."

o-o-o-o-o-o

Viper was finally back in business after their month-long break. Not that they particularly _needed _the money - they had enough money saved to last them a lifetime - but they genuinely enjoyed their job. They found it soothing - sometimes they helped the desperate find someone, sometimes saved famiglias from destruction by finding information on their enemies and sometimes destroyed families that were corrupt or had almost no morals.

Viper sorted through the files on the table, looking for potential clients.

One of the documents stood out. The client was in London and were searching for someone. Viper smiled. They called Shadow, the one that scouted the client. They silently thanked Skull for essentially forcing them to scout people in the UK. This person could be Pansy, or Blaise or Hermione, but they couldn't let themselves get their hopes up.

"Shadow. You have my permission to offer my services to the person you found in London," Viper said.

The faint reply Viper got seemed to satisfy them and they hung up immediately after.

They had to call Skull, to ask if he wanted to find out if his old friends were searching for him.

They dialled Skull's number and waited for him to pick up.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"Ok. I'm sort of nervous, now. It's all your fault, Hermione." Pansy fumed, straitening wrinkles on her coat that weren't there. "I mean if I hadn't let you talk me into this, we wouldn't be any closer to finding them, but still. We're meeting this important person and I can't stop imagining the worst case scenarios."

"You needn't worry." The reply started both Hermione and Pansy.

"Oh! Mr. Shadow! I'm sorry, I didn't notice you there." Hermione said.

"Well met." Pansy greeted him and held out her hand, inviting him to shake it. His grip was firm, which wasn't a surprise, considering his muscular build.

"I'll take you to Viper." His voice was gruff and tone professional. "They will meet you in Meeting Room Six on number 50 Liverpool Street." Shadow motioned to a car, opening one of it's doors and climbing in. After a brief pause, both women clambered in after him.

He drove them through London, weaving through the streets, not even trying to make small talk.

They were at Liverpool Street in fifteen minutes.

They got out the car and Shadow opened the door for them. They all walked inside. Shadow led them to the door with the number six engraved in it.

"Viper should be waiting for you inside. They aren't patient, so don't waste their time more than is absolutely necessary." Shadow inclined his head and left the two women standing in front of the door.

Hermione reached out her hand, grasping the brass door handle. She pressed it down, opening the door.

Light slipped through the crack she made. This was a decision she hoped she wouldn't regret.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Viper was anxious. They couldn't let themselves hope that this client would be Pansy or Hermione. Blaise probably didn't even know that Draco and Harry were missing - he moved back to his homeland two years before their disappearance.

Viper paced back and forth, thinking of scenarios in their head, each ending in disappointment. They tried to clear their mind. They tried to stop their depressing thoughts of failed expectations and lost friends.

Skull should have been here. He should have been the voice of reason, grounding Viper, but he wasn't. He didn't want to see the person that would open that door and feel the disappointment and loss of hope. Skull did, however, tell Viper to call him on the off chance that it was Hermione.

Viper paced some more.

Their phone screen lit up, notifying them that the client was in the building. It was daunting. Viper's hands were slightly sweaty. They wiped the sweat off on a handkerchief they had in their pocket, returning it to the pocket where it came from when they were done.

The muffled voice of Shadow alerted Viper to the client's arrival.

Viper plopped themselves into one of the push sofas, trying to compose themselves. They closed their eyes and took a deep breath.

The door swung open, the person on the other side clearly hesitant.

The client stepped into the room, still blocked from Viper's view by the door. When they stepped away from the door, the first thing Viper noticed was the bushy hair forced into a quick updo. It was Hermione Granger. Of course.

She didn't close the door, however - she held it open.

Pansy Parkinson walked into the room, radiating nervousness. She had a neutral expression on her face, but Viper could see right through it - they were the best at spotting masks, even if they missed the one Skull used to have.

Viper stood up as if to greet them, but was in actuality preparing an illusion to make it seem like someone was calling them.

"I'm sorry, but I have to take this," said Viper, gesturing towards their phone. They excused themselves, slipping into a side room.

They fiddled with the phone, trying to dial Skull. Their hands were shaking, their thoughts in chaos. They pressed the call button and waited.

"Come on, _come on_! Pick _up_!" Viper muttered.

"Yes? What do you want?" Skull sounded tired.

"Hermione Granger and Pansy Parkinson just showed up. They're my clients." Viper's voice broke, their thoughts conflicting. "I need you here. I need you to come here, to the meeting room and help me sort this out."

"Okay. I'll be there in ten minutes, maximum. You're in London, right?" Skull's reassurances calmed Viper.

"Yes. Number 50 Liverpool Street, room six." Viper began to relax - Skull was coming. "Thank you," their voice was a mare whisper. They were unsure if their whispered thanks was heard, but that wasn't important, not right now.

Viper waited a couple minutes in silence, trying to get their thoughts under control.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Both women were surprised at Viper's appearance. They didn't know what to think of the tribal-esque tattoos on both cheeks or the hood that covered most of their face. They most definitely didn't know what to think of the obviously dyed hair.

However when Viper left, Hermione and Pansy didn't know what to do. They sat in silence for a couple minutes.

Pansy tried to start a conversation with her friend, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "Who do you think called Viper? An informant, maybe?" She had thought it unwise to comment on Viper's appearance - they might be listening to their conversation, after all.

"Maybe. Or an employee. _Or_ some sort of acquaintance." Hermione didn't look any less nervous, but neither did Pansy.

"Maybe-" Pansy was cut off by Viper returning.

"I apologise for keeping you waiting. One of my informants called me about an urgent matter." Viper held out their hand for the women to shake. "Viper, at your service."

"Hermione Granger, at yours." Hermione shook their hand, slightly surprised at the amount of callouses Viper's hand had.

Pansy brought forward her own hand. "Pansy Parkinson, likewise."

Viper inclined their head. "Pleasure to meet you both. Shall we discuss business?" At both of their affirmative answers, Viper continued. "I have reason to believe that you are looking for someone. Is that correct?"

"Yes. We're looking for two people - Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy," Pansy, the one more proficient in business situations, answered.

"For what reason?" Viper asked, tone serious.

"We want to at least know if they're alive. We sort of blame ourselves for them leaving in the first place." Hermione cut in, before Pansy could say anything.

Viper made a soft noise of affirmation. "My informant for this case will be here in a moment. We can discuss further details when he arrives."

Viper quieted and sat there, waiting. Their two clients didn't know what to do and they all waited in an awkward silence.

Neither Hermione nor Pansy were sure about this situation - it could still be a scam. They had no choice but to wait and see.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Skull stared at his phone, not quite seeing it. He was trying, and failing, to make sense of what Viper told him to no avail. The information clicked in his mind and Skull stood up and started to stalk towards his room.

He flung open the door carelessly. He briskly walked towards a small box on his desk and opened it. He took out the worn black cloak and pulled it on. He reasoned that he had to blend in with the sort of people Viper employed, but that wasn't his actual reason. He felt much more confident with the familiar cut of the cloak enveloping his slight frame, more in control.

He grabbed an old coin from a shelf on his way out of the room, muttering a soft '_portus_'_, _creating a portkey to London. He felt a tug on his naval, and disappeared from the hallway.

When he appeared in London, he casted a notice-me-not on himself. Immediately after that he apparated to the address Viper gave him.

He slowed his stride as he got closer to the meeting room, slowing down his breath. He didn't want to look like he ran - it wouldn't look professional.

He opened the door and shakily exhaled.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Neither Pansy nor Hermione knew how to react to the goth teenager with purple hair that appeared in the doorway. He wasn't lanky and definitely not tall, but they knew that he couldn't be older than fourteen.

"Is.. is _this_ the informant that we were waiting for?_"_ said Pansy, expression calm, but Hermione saw the rage roiling under the seemingly pleasant expression.

"Yes," said Viper, confusion lacing his tone. "Is something wrong?"

"Wrong? Wrong?" Hermione seethed."He is obviously a teenager, essentially a child. And you think it's normal to employ him, and in a risky job like this?" Hermione snarled.

The boy raised an eyebrow. "I an your age, lady. It's not my fault I look like a child - childhood malnutrition does that to you."

Both women paused. They looked at the boy, searching for signs of malnutrition - they found them.

"I highly doubt that you're my age - I look younger than I am." Hermione shook her head. "But I can understand your situation. I had a friend that was malnourished and looked much younger than he was. I apologize for my outburst."

"I accept your apology. My name is Skull Demort. I would shake your hands but after all this-" He gestured to the room in general- "I don't think it is necessary."

Viper nodded, confirming Skull's statement. "We know exactly where Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy."

"Exactly? How could you know exactly where they are? I mean you can't track them every second of their lives." Pansy frowned. "Wait... _are_ you tracking them?"

"No. We're not tracking them. We know them. We are the people that keep them hidden." Skull took a second to calm himself. "We're the masks they wear to protect themselves. We're the faces they use to hide from the cages that the Wizarding Enclaves represent."

Viper moved their hand up towards his face and grabbed the rim of his hood. He took the hood down and waited for Skull, who was taking out his piercings. When he did his face changed, facial features growing sharp and hair turning black, eyes starting to glow green.

Viper took that as a cue to take off his glamours. They waved a hand in front of their face in a show of effortless wandless and wordless magic. Their hair changed from indigo to platinum blonde, eyes changing shape slightly but retaining the silvery gray colour they were before dropping the glamour.

"Um... I don't know how to prove that we were Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy. You could ask us questions only we would know the answers to, I guess."

Hermione spoke up. "Tell me the last thing you said to me."

"I said that you're my best friend," Harry answered.

"You're _actually_ _Harry_." Hermione's tone was incredulous. "So you must be the _actual_ Draco Malfoy."

"Oh." Pansy said, voice faint. "So you aren't really Viper, if 'Viper' even exists. You just wanted to con us into meeting up."

Hermione sat there, frozen. This wasn't what she was expecting to get out of this meeting. She thought she would get one or two pieces of information, not enough to actually find Harry, but enough for her to keep searching. She never even entertained the thought of him coming to her.

She broke out of her shock, standing up and tackling Harry into a tight hug. "Idiot. You should have told me you were leaving, Harry. You know I love you like a sister."

"Yeah, but now we're here, and we could start again. And please don't call me Harry. I'm not the person I used to be. Call me Skull." He looked at her, eyes pleading.

Viper and Pansy looked at each other. Pansy stepped forward and Viper cringed. From what they remember of her mannerisms, they knew she was never quiet unless she was mad. They braced themselves for a slap or a punch. Neither came.

Pansy stepped even closer. "You never told me you weren't comfortable using he/him pronouns." She brushed away a couple stray hairs from Viper's forehead. "I'm sorry for being paranoid about Potter. I'm sorry I left you. I'm such a failure of a friend for not asking about your problems and avoiding you."

"Nobody's perfect, Pansy," said Viper.

Viper stepped closer to Pansy and enveloped her in a tight hug.

She smiled, and Viper smiled back.

o-o-o-o-o-o

It was a day of stormy satisfaction.

o-o-o-o-o-o

**Hi! **

**This is where the plot truly begins. Everything I have written before this is basically an introduction to this AU. **

**According to my notes there will be only one more backstory for a character I have not yet written into this story. I'm still not 100% on it though.**

**This will most likely be a five chapter story and I ****_might_**** make a sequel. No promises, though.**

**I would be very grateful for any and all reviews. They are the thing that keep me writing. Just for comparison, the first chapter took me almost a month to write and the other chapters took me about three days each(I had a bit of chapter three written when I posted chapter two).**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**Kat**


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